The Summer Maiden

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Chapter One (#uce918d8c-7229-5881-9f9b-c52cb8d7830c)

Wapping, London, Summer 1873

Caroline Manning stood a little apart from the rest of the mourners who were preparing to walk away from her father’s grave. The interment was over, the last words of farewell to a good man had been said, and his widow, Esther, had dropped a crimson rose onto the coffin. Her face was hidden behind the dark veil of widow’s weeds, but Caroline sensed that her mother was crying. Tears stung her own eyes, but she was determined to be brave. She had loved her father dearly, but she knew that Papa would have wanted her to support the rest of the family and help her mother through the trauma of such a great loss. Max and James, her younger brothers, had been away at boarding school when their father had fallen ill and died, and Esther had travelled to Rugby with Sadie, her friend and companion, to bring them home. The boys had been brave throughout the interment, but Jimmy had broken down and sobbed when the first handful of earth fell on the coffin, and he was clinging to their mother, who was now weeping openly. Caroline could see that fourteen-year-old Max was struggling and she placed her arm around his shoulders.

‘Papa didn’t suffer, Max. He just slipped away, so Mama told me.’

Max dashed his hand across his eyes. ‘Yes, that’s what she said, but I’m going to miss him.’

‘We all are.’ Caroline gave him a comforting hug. ‘We’d best follow the others, Max. We have to get the train back to London.’

‘We’re going now, Carrie, dear.’ Esther braced her slender shoulders and led Jimmy away from the yawning chasm of Jack Manning’s last resting place.

‘I won’t be long.’

‘The train will be here soon,’ Sadie said firmly. ‘Come on, Carrie, love. Best foot forward.’

‘I said I won’t be long.’ Caroline could not help a note of impatience creeping into her voice. She had so far kept herself composed, but she was in danger of losing the cast-iron self-control that had helped her to get through the carriage ride from their home in Finsbury Circus to Waterloo Bridge Station, and the journey on the Necropolis Railway to Brookwood Cemetery. Mama had her standards and would not travel any other way than first class, even though Aunt Sadie was quite happy to use the omnibus and had even braved the Metropolitan Railway, which ran underground.

‘Come with me, Max. We’ll let Carrie have a minute to herself.’ Sadie beckoned to Max and he allowed her to take him by the hand, something that he would never have done normally.

At any other time Caroline might have smiled to see her usually strong-willed brother acting so meekly, but this was not a normal day. Sadie was no relation, but she had been with the family ever since Caroline could remember, and had become a surrogate aunt with an enduring place in their affections.

The distant sound of a train’s whistle jolted Caroline back to the present and she raised the tea rose to her lips, inhaling the delicate perfume before allowing it to flutter through the air, landing on the coffin with a gentle thud. Papa had loved tea roses and she had picked several from the garden with the morning dew still upon them, choosing the biggest and the best to bring with her on Papa’s last, sad journey. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath, raising her face to the cloudless azure sky. She wondered if Papa and her two baby brothers, who had been taken by whooping cough, were looking down on her, but that was childish and, at seventeen years old, she knew better.

She picked up her black silk skirts and trudged across the scorched grass as she followed her family to the station platform. It was a fiery June day and the ground beneath her feet was baked hard. The return train journey promised to be hot and sticky and less than cheerful, and she had a sudden urge to cry out that it was not fair. Papa had been in his mid-forties when he contracted pneumonia during a business trip to the Continent. Her last sight of him had been when she had waved him off, thinking that he would return soon with news of a profitable deal. Caroline bit the inside of her lip to prevent herself from bursting into tears as she caught up with her mother, Sadie and the boys.

‘Are you all right?’ Sadie whispered.

‘Yes, of course.’ It was a lie, but Caroline held her head high as she took her mother’s mittened hand in hers. ‘We’ll be home soon, Mama.’

‘Home.’ Esther’s voice was harsh and thick with tears. ‘There is no future for me without Jack. My heart is broken and buried with him in that cold grave.’

Sadie sighed and shook her head. ‘It’s a sad time, but you’ll feel better when you’ve had a cup of tea and something to eat.’

‘Stop being so cheerful,’ Esther said wearily. ‘Leave me alone.’ She broke away from Caroline’s restraining hand and marched towards the station platform.

‘When Mama cries it makes me sad, too,’ Jimmy said, sniffing.

‘It’s all right to cry, Jimmy.’ Max slapped his brother on the shoulder. ‘Just don’t let them see you’re sad when we go back to school.’

‘Come on, boys,’ Sadie said briskly. ‘We’d better get a move on, or we’ll be left behind.’ She quickened her pace, the others falling into step beside her.

The rest of the mourners, most of whom were employees of the Manning and Chapman Shipping Company, travelled second class, but Esther and the family had a first-class carriage to themselves.

‘If only your Uncle George were here.’ Esther leaned back in her seat. ‘I don’t know if he received the cable I sent to the agent in New York, as there was no reply.’

‘He’ll be as upset as you are, Essie.’ Sadie turned her head away to stare out of the window. ‘It seems your family are only happy when they are sailing the seven seas.’

‘Our family.’ Esther took off her gloves and laid them on the seat beside her. ‘How many times do I have to stress that you’re as important to me as if we were related by blood?’

‘I know you believe that, Essie, but that doesn’t make it true.’ Sadie shot her a sideways glance. ‘Jack wouldn’t want you to wear yourself out with grief. He was a good man, and you’re a strong woman. You’ve seen hard times and you’ll come through this, as always.’

‘Yes, but I’m allowed to mourn in my own way.’ Esther brushed a tear from her cheek and her lips trembled ominously. ‘Besides which, I thought that Alice might have taken the trouble to attend the funeral.’

‘You know she sent her apologies,’ Sadie said sternly. ‘Sir Henry is taking part in an important debate in the Commons, and Lady Bearwood wanted to be there to support him.’

‘I know. I’m being unreasonable. It’s all too much. If Jack had remained in London he would still be alive today.’

Caroline glanced anxiously at her brothers, but Jimmy had fallen asleep in the corner seat and Max was gazing out of the window, seemingly in a world of his own. She moved closer to Sadie, lowering her voice to a whisper. ‘What’s going on, Aunt Sadie? I know that Mama is heartbroken, but there’s more, isn’t there? I’m not a child; I need to know.’

Sadie inclined her head so that the brims of their black bonnets were almost touching. ‘It’s business, Carrie. I don’t know the ins and outs, but the loss of the Mary Louise was a blow, and between you and me, I don’t think it was insured.’

‘That was nearly a year ago,’ Caroline said, frowning.

‘That’s right. All were lost as well as the cargo.’

‘I’m grieving, but I’m not deaf.’ Esther folded back her veil. Even in her tear-stained and emotional state, she was still a handsome woman. At thirty-nine she had kept her figure and her skin was smooth with only a few laughter lines crinkling the corners of her hazel eyes, and the hint of silver in her dark hair did nothing to detract from her good looks. ‘If you have questions, ask me, Caroline. Don’t mutter behind my back.’

Sadie leaned over to pat Esther’s clasped hands. ‘I’m sorry, but you shouldn’t bottle it all up, Essie. We’re here to help you, and Carrie and the boys have lost their pa.’

Esther’s eyes swam with unshed tears. ‘I know, and I’m trying to keep the worst from them. As if it isn’t bad enough to lose the husband and father that we love, it seems inevitable that we will lose our home as well.’

‘Surely it can’t be that bad, Mama?’ Caroline said dazedly. ‘We’ve always been well off.’

‘What happened to the fortune that you brought home from the goldfields in Australia?’ Sadie asked, frowning. ‘You must still have your investments, and the business seemed to be going well.’

‘That’s all you know.’ Esther’s full lips tightened into a pencil-thin line. ‘Jack did his best to keep it from us, and I’ve only just discovered the true state of affairs. My brother must have known that the business was in a bad way when he sailed off for the Americas, but he didn’t think to confide in me. It was only when I went to the office and demanded to see the books that I discovered the parlous state of our finances. George should have said something before he went away.’

‘That’s not fair, Essie,’ Sadie protested angrily. ‘George was only doing his job. When he’s offloaded the cargo he’ll find another one to bring home, doubling the profit. You know as well as I do that that’s how it goes in business.’

Esther held up her hand, tears seeping between her closed eyelids. ‘Please, that’s enough. I don’t want to hear any more. Just leave me alone. My head is pounding.’

Caroline sat back in her seat, staring out of the window at the sun-drenched fields and hedgerows as they flashed past. Dog roses, buttercups and dandelions made bright splashes of colour against the dark green of hawthorn leaves and the pale gold of ripening cornfields. Cows grazed on patches of grass beneath shady trees and woolly white sheep clustered together on the hillsides. It was all so serene and peaceful, but Caroline had a feeling that they were heading for trouble at home, and without the solid backing of her father the future loomed before her engraved with a huge question mark.

The house in Finsbury Circus was an impressive five-storey building fronted with iron railings and a columned portico. The servants, who had been allowed to attend the funeral, had gone on ahead to ensure that everything was ready for the mourners when they arrived home. A liveried footman hurried down the steps to open the carriage door, and Ingram, the butler, stood in the doorway, waiting to usher the family and friends into the vast cathedral-like entrance hall.